Year: 2012

Could Packers trade Greg Jennings?

stevenlourie News, Packers

A stir was caused this week when respected beat writer Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said that the Packers would be “wise” to shop Greg Jennings ahead of the trade deadline. Jennings is heading into the final year of his contract and could get the Packers a 2nd round pick, according to McGinn. Also according to McGinn, Jennings may want Larry Fitzgerald money on the open market, which would be 8 years 120 million. We saw Mike Wallace try and fail to get that kind of money this offseason, proving how tough it is to get that type of money unless you’re Larry Fitzgerald or Calvin Johnson, but Jennings should get at least the 5 years 55 million dollar that Vincent Jackson got last offseason on the open market.

Jennings has been an incredibly productive receiver over the past few years, catching 389 passes for 6171 yards and 49 touchdowns, but he wouldn’t be worth that to the Packers. The Packers don’t like to commit big money to guys and have plenty of receiving depth with Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Randall Cobb, so it makes sense that they could let him leave, heading into his age 30 season in 2013. There’s also his health issue with 3 concussions as a pro on his record. He’s unlikely to be anywhere near this productive elsewhere, as he’s only ever had Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre throwing him the football, and any team that signs him to a giant contract would be making a bad deal.

Still, trading him wouldn’t make any sense. The Packers are built to win now and Jennings is definitely an asset to a Super Bowl run. It wouldn’t be worth a 2nd round pick for the Packers to “hedge their bet” in a year where they could easily win it all. The Steelers might have been able to get a 2nd for Mike Wallace, but they wouldn’t have traded him for that, even though he was holding out, because giving yourself the best chance to win a Super Bowl now is worth more than a 2nd round pick later. I would be shocked if the Packers made this kind of move midseason, barring some unforeseen major early season struggles that knocked them out of Super Bowl contention.

Plus, I just don’t understand why Jennings would want to leave. Sure, he’ll probably have to take less money to stay, but playing for a team like the Packers with Aaron Rodgers throwing you the football is a wide receiver’s dream and it’s a lot of money either way. Jennings needs the Packers more than the Packers need him. One option that would make a lot of sense for both sides is the franchise tag, which the Packers should have available next offseason, with no other major free agents to lock up.

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Raiders’ get Stefen Wisniewski and Denarius Moore back, put Jacoby Ford and Ron Bartell on IR

stevenlourie News, Raiders

Already thin at cornerback, the Raiders were dealt another blow when they lost starter Ron Bartell for at least 6 weeks, as they put him on the injured reserve recall list, meaning he’ll miss at least 6 weeks. Bartell was signed as a free agent off the bargain rack by the cap troubled and cornerback troubled Raiders this offseason. Once a starter in St. Louis, Bartell missed all of last season with injuries, so this is not a good sign for him.

Having lost every cornerback who played a snap for them last season this offseason, the Raiders attempted to rebuild the cornerback position this offseason and were counting on Bartell as a starter, opposite Shawntae Spencer, another bargain rack guy. Now with Bartell out, the Raiders will turn to Patrick Lee, who has one career start, to be their starting cornerback. Final cut of the Eagles’ Joselio Hanson will continue to man the slot.

The Raiders also lost their top pass rusher, Kamerion Wimbley, this offseason and were counting on Matt Shaughnessy returning from injury to lead their pass rush, but they pressured Philip Rivers on just 10 of his 34 drop backs last week in a home loss to the Chargers, even though San Diego’s offensive line isn’t very good. The Raiders travel across the country on short rest for an early game against the Dolphins this week in the heat. Ryan Tannehill struggled last week, if there was ever a game for him to play well, it’s this one. The Raiders’ defense was 29th in scoring last year and could end up being even worse this season, when all is said and done.

The Raiders also put another player on IR, wide receiver and return man Jacoby Ford. Ford was not put on injured reserve recall, because teams are only allowed one of those, so he’s done for the year. A talented return man and a speedy receiver, Ford has struggled with injury problems throughout his career. In his absence, undrafted free agent Rod Streater, who did not live up to the hype in his first game, will play in the slot. Taiwan Jones and Phillip Adams will return kicks.

The good news is that the Raiders will get back starting wide receiver Denarius Moore this week, though hamstring injuries tend to linger. Also returning for the Raiders is center Stefen Wisniewski, who will hopefully add some life to a running game that managed just 45 yards on 20 carries in the opener, despite having Darren McFadden.

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Jaguars likely to be without 4 starters this week, Rashad Jennings out as well

stevenlourie Jaguars, News

The Jaguars had a nice little opener in a near road win over the Minnesota Vikings Blaine Gabbert looked serviceable, completing 23 of 39 for 260 yards, 2 touchdown, and no interceptions. Minnesota’s secondary is crap, but I was very impressed with Gabbert’s poise under pressure. I didn’t like the matchup for Gabbert because of his struggles under pressure last season. Minnesota has one of the league’s best pass rushes and they lived up to their billing, pressured Gabbert on 18 of 43 drop backs, but Gabbert only took 2 sacks and completed 9 of 15 on those 18 drop backs (3 runs).

However, they may find things much tougher this week as they head home to face the Houston Texans, who might be the most complete team in the NFL. Making life even harder is the fact that they may be without 4 starters with injury. Starting right tackle Cameron Bradfield left the Vikings’ game with an injury and replacement Guy Whimper, who really struggled last season as a starter, predictably got destroyed, surrendered 1 sack, 1 quarterback hit, 4 quarterback hurries on 35 pass block snaps, while committing 2 penalties.

Starting left guard Eben Britton is also unlikely to go, which would leave undrafted free agent Mike Brewster to start at left guard. Gabbert will be under pressure all night and if he reverts to his old habits, he could really struggle, especially against Houston’s secondary. Even if he continues to show poise in the pocket, the Jaguars will probably still have trouble moving the ball against a tough Houston defense.

The Jaguars also have injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Daryl Smith and Derek Cox did not suit up for the opener and might not play again this week. Smith was ProFootballFocus’ 2nd ranked outside linebacker last season, only behind Von Miller, while Derek Cox was a real shutdown cornerback in limited action in his 3rd year in the league last year, before going out with injuries.

Cox, a surprise 3rd round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, didn’t play well as a starter in either 2009 or 2010, but was awesome to start the season last year. He allowed just 9 completions on 28 attempts (32.1%) for 105 yards (3.8 YPA), no touchdowns, and no interceptions, while deflecting 3 passes and being penalized once. His 44.5 QB rating would have been 2nd in the league had he had enough snaps to qualify. If he can stay healthy and keep that up over an entire season, he’ll emerge as one of the top cornerbacks in the league, but those are pretty big ifs, especially now that he’s missed 1 game and maybe more. In the opener, replacements Aaron Ross and Kyle Bosworth predictably struggled. If the Jaguars couldn’t stop the Vikings, they’re going to have a lot of trouble stopping the Texans.

Also expected to miss this game is Rashad Jennings. Jennings is not a starter, so he’s not as important to their chances of winning on Sunday, but it’s an important note for fantasy football players. Maurice Jones-Drew will carry the load completely in his 2nd game back and the Jaguars have said he’s not an a pitch count, so expect him to get most, if not all of the carries, as primary backup Montell Owens has just 14 career carries. Still, don’t get too excited about him in fantasy leagues, as Houston has a tough run defense and MJD doesn’t seem to have his legs back under him yet. Start him, but don’t count on him to carry your team. Likewise, the Jaguars can’t count on him to carry their team like they did last year.

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Jets rule out Darrelle Revis and Dustin Keller, expect Sione Pouha back

stevenlourie Jets, News

The Jets got a surprising 48-28 victory over the Bills in their opener, but improving to 2-0 may prove to be very tough for them, especially without their top defensive player, Darrelle Revis, who has been ruled out for this week’s clash with the Steelers with a concussion. In his absence, Kyle Wilson will start and cover Antonio Brown, one of the AFC’s premier receivers, while Antonio Cromartie will be on Mike Wallace.

Brown has been the Steelers’ top receiver over their last 10 games, including playoffs, catching 44 passes for 821 yards, while Wallace has caught 36 passes for 456 yards over that same period. Wallace, still working his way into the system after missing most of the offseason with a holdout, will continue to function as primarily a deep decoy, opening things up underneath. With Wallace having to deal with Antonio Cromartie this week, with Brown being covered primarily by a backup, expect Brown to once again lead the Steelers in receiving. The good news for the Jets is the get Sione Pouha back from injury. Without their stud run stuffing nose tackle, the Jets surrendered 195 yards on 26 carries on the ground to the Bills last week.

As for the Jets’ offense, in the opener, they scored 48 points, but 14 of those were by defense and special teams, and the other 34 were aided by strong field position. The Jets had the 11th most yards in the league last week, while having the 12th most time of possession. All of a sudden, that offensive “explosion” doesn’t sound so good. There’s also the issue of Mark Sanchez’ inconsistencies; those don’t go away just because he had one nice game, especially since his top receiver is a 2nd round rookie, who by his nature will be inconsistent.

Sanchez will also be hurt this week by the absence of tight end Dustin Keller with injury and he won’t find live as easy because their defense won’t dominate the Steelers’ offense like they did the Bills’, especially without Revis. The Steelers’ defense, meanwhile, provides a much tougher test for the Jets’ offensively than the Bills did last week, even without James Harrison and possibly Troy Polamalu. Meanwhile, the Steelers are a much better team at home than on the road, where they lost in Denver last week. Last year, they were -22 on the road last year and +120 at home. Back home, they should have a bounce back game, especially since they won’t be playing a no huddle offense in high altitude.

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Chargers expect Antonio Gates, Quentin Jammer to play, Ryan Mathews to be a game-time decision

stevenlourie Chargers, News

The Chargers are one of the most banged up teams in the league right now. Last week against the Raiders, they had to start an undrafted free agent at left tackle on an already weak offensive line because Jared Gaither is out indefinitely with back spasms. They were also without Vincent Brown, their top receiver in Training Camp, and Philip Rivers never looked comfortable throwing to Robert Meachem and Malcom Floyd, completing 24 of 33 for 231 yards and a score against an incredibly thin Oakland secondary.

Rivers isn’t helped by his offensive line’s deficiencies, though they did do a decent job in the opener of protecting him, as Rivers was pressured on just 10 of 34 drop backs, and he also isn’t helped by their inability to run the ball. Missing Ryan Mathews, who was supposed to be their everything back, the Chargers managed just 32 yards on 20 carries, led at running back by a duo of the washed up Ronnie Brown and the mediocre Curtis Brinkley.

Brown and Gaither will miss this week as well and are out indefinitely (Brown is out for at least 6 weeks), but Ryan Mathews has yet to be ruled out. Even still, it doesn’t sound promising for him. Reports have been varied, but trusted beat writer Michael Gehlken, of the Union-Tribune San Diego, who attends all practices and press conferences, believes Mathews will once again be inactive. At the very most, he’ll be a game time decision.

The Chargers also have two new injuries to worry about, Antonio Gates and Quentin Jammer, though both are expected to play. Gates has a rib problem that has caused him to miss some practice this week, but he normally plays through injuries, so expect him out there playing through the pain, good news for Rivers since he’s his most trusted target in a thin receiving corps. Jammer, meanwhile, has a broken hand, but is also expected to play through it, wearing a cast. Jammer, a declining player at age 33, had a nice opener, but a broken hand will hurt his ability to tackle and be physical with wide receivers, so the Titans could throw on him with some ease this week, especially if the aged corner proves last week was a fluke.

Jammer’s presence is necessary though, as nickel cornerback Shareece Wright will miss this week with an ankle problem, which would have left the inexperienced Marcus Gilchrist, a 2011 2nd round pick, to start and someone signed off the streets to man the nickel as the Chargers only carry 4 cornerbacks. Instead, Gilchrist will just take Wright’s spot in the slot, which isn’t a huge downgrade.

Still, with all these injuries and their history early in the season, it’s definitely possible they could be caught off guard and upset by the underrated Titans this week. If it wasn’t for an injury to the Raiders’ long snapper last week, they could have lost to a Raider team that I think is one of the worst in the league. That win reminded me of their 4-1 start last season. The Chargers were able to beat up on a cupcake schedule last year early, beating Minnesota by 7, Kansas City by 3, Miami by 10, and Denver (prebow) by 5. However, once they started playing real teams, things got a lot harder for them and they actually went on a 6 game losing streak. The Titans are a real team, so the Chargers have to be careful.

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Lions expect to be without Louis Delmas, Chris Houston, and Bill Bentley this week

stevenlourie 49ers, News

One of the big questions of the 2012 season is can Alex Smith prove he’s a true franchise quarterback, now that the 49ers have gotten him some weapons and now that he’s had a full offseason in Harbaugh’s scheme. Jim Harbaugh did a great job of turning him from lost cause to game manager last season, but history shows that teams can’t win on a consistent basis following the good defense, good running game, don’t make mistakes model (see pre-Cutler Bears or pre-Flacco Ravens). You can have a good year or even a great year, but it’s very tough to maintain consistent year to year success in the NFL without a true franchise quarterback.

Smith certainly looked like a franchise quarterback in the opener, completing 20 of 26 for 211 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading the 49ers to an upset victory over the Packers in Lambeau 30-22. However, the Packers were blowing coverages left and right so it’s tough to get a conclusive answer from that game. It’ll probably be tough to get a conclusive answer from this week’s game either as the 49ers head home to take on the Lions and their incredibly banged up secondary.

Already with a weak secondary heading into the season, a big part of the reason for their 23rd ranked scoring defense last year, the Lions have been plagued by injuries in that area in which they were already weakest. Top cornerback Chris Houston and starting safety Louis Delmas both missed the opener and are expected to miss this week as well, very bad news since those were the Lions’ only two decent defensive backs. Without those two, the Lions had trouble stopping Sam Bradford last week, who completed 17 of 25 for 198 yards and a touchdown in a near Rams victory in Detroit.

Now the Lions expect to be without another defensive back, 3rd round rookie Bill Bentley, this week. Bentley was a starter last week in place of the injured Houston. Without Bentley, the Lions’ top 3 cornerbacks this week will be Jacob Lacey, who struggled as a starter in Indianapolis last year, Drayton Florence, who was a final cut of the Broncos’ roughly 2 weeks ago, and Jonte Green, a 6th round rookie. At safety, they will start two career journeyman backups, Erik Coleman and John Wendling. Their pass rush is good, but expect Alex Smith to find life very easy through the air once again this week, as long as they can keep him protected again, something they did a good job of against Green Bay, as he was pressured on just 7 of 33 drop backs.

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Rams to be without 2 starting offensive linemen this week, Rodger Saffold questionable

stevenlourie News, Rams

Injuries were a huge issue for the Rams last year, especially in the secondary and on the offensive line. This year, it appears the injuries are starting again, at least on the offensive line. When the Rams play the Redskins this week, they will be without starting left guard Rokevious Watkins and starting center Scott Wells.

The Watkins injury is not serious. Watkins is a mere 5th round rookie and left guard would have been a weakness regardless. Watkins predictably struggled in his NFL debut last week and the drop off from him to Quinn Ojinnaka, his replacement, probably won’t be noticeable. In fact, it might be a positive. However, Wells’ injury is more serious. Not only is it more long term, as the Rams placed him on the NFL’s new retractable IR, meaning he’ll miss at least 6 weeks and possibly the entire season, but Wells is also a much better player. ProFootballFocus’ 4th ranked center in 2011, the Rams signed Wells to a 4 year, 24 million dollar deal this offseason, expecting him to help solidify the line and anchor the running game. Instead, it will be career backup Robert Turner starting for at least the next few weeks.

The good news for the Rams is that Rodger Saffold was only listed as questionable and he is expected to suit up after practicing this week. It looked a lot more serious than that at first, as it was a neck injury and he was down for a while, but the Rams appear to have caught a break. When healthy, Saffold is an above average player at the most important offensive line position and obviously a huge upgrade over Jets castoff Wayne Hunter, who would have started in his absence. Saffold held his own against a tough Detroit pass rush last week, not allowing a single pressure on 22 pass plays before leaving with injury, and should be able to do so again this week against an also tough Washington pass rush.

For all the criticism their offensive line got in the offseason, they only allowed Bradford to be pressured on 9 of 30 drop backs last week, a very solid 30.0% pressure rate. A lot of that has to do with Bradford being back in a short throw, west coast offense, like he was in 2010, when he and the Rams had a decent season. They have a solid defense and they almost pulled the upset in Detroit last week, so they have a good chance to actually seal the deal this week and pull the upset at home, where they were 5-3 in 2010, against a young Redskin team.

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Eagles give up on Jaiquawn Jarrett

stevenlourie Eagles, News

Well that was quick. Seeing a team release a 2nd round pick just a year after they draft them is rare. Hell, even seeing a team release a 3rd round pick just a year after they draft them, like the Panthers recently did with Terrell McClain, is rare. However, once Jaiquawn Jarrett fell to 3rd string at safety in Philadelphia, they just decided to give up on him and release him. The 2011 2nd round pick was given every opportunity to start as a rookie, but struggled and lost his job to Kurt Coleman, a mediocre 2010 7th round pick.

Jarrett came back this offseason with a chance to compete for his old job with veteran free agent addition OJ Atogwe and the incumbent Coleman, but Jarrett lost the competition fairly quickly. While he lasted on the roster longer than Atogwe, who was a final cut, he eventually lost his roster spot as the Eagles decided to keep strong special teamers Colt Anderson and David Sims. Sims was acquired from Cleveland primarily for his special teams value for a late round pick right before final cuts. Jarrett has never been able to get the hang of special teams. Anderson, a special teams stud for them last year, was inactive for the opener with injury issues, but when he returned, Jarrett became an unneeded 5th safety and was released.

The starting free safety job is all Kurt Coleman’s for now and he will be given every opportunity to prove he can be a long term starter, but the Eagles may have to turn use an early pick on a safety in the 2013 NFL Draft, for the 3rd time in 4 drafts (starter Nate Allen was a 2010 2nd round pick). Coleman had two picks in the opener, but those were largely due to Brandon Weeden’s ineptitude. Let’s see how he does for the rest of the season. In 2011, Coleman was ProFootballFocus’ 59th ranked safety out of 84 eligible.

As for Jarrett, he predictably went unclaimed on waivers as no one wanted to guarantee his $538,500 dollar salary. However, even though he was a surprise 2nd round pick in 2011, there are probably still some teams out there that see him as someone with upside, someone they could potentially groom into a future starter with the right combination of coaching and luck. Jarrett worked out with the safety needy Jets on Friday, but was not immediately signed. He should catch on somewhere in the next week or couple of weeks.

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Tim Tebow could ask for trade from Jets?

stevenlourie Jets, News

There was a media stir created this week when the New York Daily News reported that an NFL source told them that Tim Tebow could ask for a trade at the end of the season. The media goes crazy over Tim Tebow even when there’s nothing newsworthy going on with him, so you can imagine how they reacted once they found out that something newsworthy actually might be going on with him.

However, I believe this is all just media hype and possibly a completely made up story. When the Broncos traded Tebow, they gave him a choice between the interested parties and he chose the Jets (over the Jaguars) because he thought they gave him the best chance to start long term. I highly doubt that’s changed after just 1 game. And frankly, if Tebow no longer thinks he can beat out Mark Sanchez, you have to wonder who he does think he can beat out. Sanchez had a good game last week, but his career history has been generally mediocre and inconsistent. He could easily fall flat on his face this week against Pittsburgh. This is a non-story right now and I still expect Tebow to eventually be the starter in New York, once the team starts struggling.

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Dallas Cowboys extend 3-4 DE Sean Lissemore

stevenlourie 2012 NFL Off-Season, Cowboys, Offseason Moves 2012

Lissemore was a 7th round pick in 2010 and had 2 years (including this one) left on his rookie deal. The Cowboys have tacked on an extra 3 years, 6 million onto his deal, with 3.1 million guaranteed. This is the 2nd time in as many seasons that the Cowboys have attempted to get ahead of the curve and give a player an extension before they broke out because the team felt they were headed for a breakout year. Last year, they gave Orlando Scandrick a 5 year, 27 million dollar extension with 10 million guaranteed.

This deal is far less head scratching. For one, it’s far less money so they’re taking a far smaller risk if Lissemore doesn’t pan out like they think he will. Two, Lissemore is coming off a strong season as a situational player, whereas Scandrick struggled some on the slot in 2010, before getting his extension. For some reason, the Cowboys thought that made him a good bet to be a long term starter at cornerback.

However, just one year later they were proven wrong as Scandrick failed to take the next step and the team had to use a lot of resources to add two new cornerbacks in Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne this offseason. Now Scandrick is stuck behind those two for the foreseeable future and the Cowboys are stuck being an average slot cornerback a lot of money yearly. In the opener, he played just 27 of 56 snaps, which is about what you can expect from him long term.

Lissemore, however, played very well as a situational player last year. In 2011, he had a 13.8 rating on just 283 snaps on ProFootballFocus. He wasn’t much of a pass rusher, but he had 18 solo tackles, 8 assists and 16 stops on just 119 run defense snaps, while missing only 2 tackles. He was ProFootballFocus’ 3rd rated 3-4 defensive end against the run, behind Ray McDonald and Glenn Dorsey. He played all over the line, both end spots and nose tackle, and will have a bigger role this season. We’ll see if the added playing time will help or hurt him, but I named him as my potential breakout player for the Cowboys early in the season.

Lissemore played 27 of 56 snaps in the opener and only one defensive lineman played more. He’ll probably see slightly fewer snaps when Jay Ratliff returns, but if he continues to play well, as he did in the opener, he could lock down that 3rd starting defensive lineman job next to Jason Hatcher and Jay Ratliff by season’s end, something they desperately need someone to do, and if he does that, he’ll end up being well worth this contract long term. If he doesn’t, it’s not a huge risk and Lissemore could still end up being a valuable rotational player.

Grade: A

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